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Floyd's Opinion
WelfareRichmond Times-Dispatch P.O. Box 85333 Richmond, VA 23293 Attn: Editor of Editorial Page Dear Sir, {I just could not contain myself when I heard the news.} Several Virginia law-makers will try to experience life on welfare in an attempt to "get closer to the people". How trendy. How sensitive. As a grocer who owns a store in a "low income" neighborhood please allow me to provide an example of the hardships faced by welfare recipients. {I will not mention the studies that have been done showing how the average American child is overweight and that the majority of those are from "poor families". One wonders how a person can become overweight on so little food.} {Keep in mind that I speak from experience regarding my observations over the past twenty-plus years in the grocery business. I actually see what welfare recipients spend our money on.} First let's talk about how many of these poor people will spend a one-dollar food stamp on a piece of candy so that they can get change back in real cash. This is done several times over so that eventually you have enough real money to buy the beer or wine or cigarettes you really want. Then there are those who sell the stamps for cash. $65 in stamps might sell for $40 in cash. This seems like a bargain to the purchaser until they are told by the store cashier that they cannot use the stamp without the book it was attached to. {This leads one to wonder what happens to said stamp now that it cannot be used. Another waste of tax dollars!? We are told by our caring Government that the reason for welfare is so that the poorer among our citizens can buy the necessary food stuffs and other necessities of life, that they otherwise could not afford. I am left wondering why then do the recipients spend the stamps so carelessly?} Instead of healthful fruits and vegetables they buy chips and donuts. Instead of milk or juice it's soft drinks and flavored waters. The list of unhealthy foods goes on and on. Were it their money and not my tax dollars I would have no qualms, but this is not the case. {Thus we have W.I.C. vouchers. These vouchers specify only "healthy" foods for the benefit of Women, Infants, and Children. Why!? I thought welfare was supposed to take care of this. In the pages of this same editorial page some months back it was pointed out how a person on the government dole actually received benefits amounting to a salary of over $20,000 a year. Your tax dollars at work, folks!} If our thoughtful and caring politicians really wanted to see the abuses of our welfare system, and not just posture for the news media, let them come to work at my store during the first week of any month. Let them bring along their assistants to take notes of what is and is not purchased using our tax dollars. Let them see the real world where welfare recipients think that the world owes them something. Where these recipients think they have no obligation to shop wisely using our money. Let them stop trying to ply us with phony attempts at showing how much they care. Sincerely, Floyd C. Bayne
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